Costa Rica’s government has been an outstanding example ...

Costa Rica’s government has been an outstanding example of an enduring democracy for almost fifty years. This is quite an achievement when one looks at the rest of the world—particularly Latin America. In an area of the world until recently noted for wars, political chaos and even dictatorships, Costa Rica stands out as a beacon of democratic tranquility.

A neutral country, Costa Rica is compared to Switzerland because of its neutral political posture, with one exception; Costa Rica has no army. As we mentioned earlier, in 1948 Costa Ricans did what no other modern nation has done — they formally abolished their army. The same year they limited the power of their Presidents, began universal suffrage and dedicated their government to justice and equality for all, thus ending discrimination and making Costa Rica a truly unique nation. Consequently, in Costa Rica you don’t see any of the racial tension so prevalent in the United States and some other parts of the world. Non-citizens have the same rights as Costa Ricans. Today there is even a growing women’s- rights movement.

Costa Ricans set up the legislative, judicial and executive power structure to prevent any one person or group from gaining too much power, in order to ensure the continuity of the democratic process. For example, to eliminate the possibility of a dictatorship, all presidents are limited to one four-year term with no possibility of re-election. The members of the legislative assembly are also limited to a single four-year term and cannot be re-elected.

Costa Rica’s government is divided into four branches: The Executive (the President and two vice presidents), the Legislative Branch (Legislative Assembly and 57 deputies) the Judicial Branch (the Supreme and lower courts) and the Electoral Tribunal. The country’s two main political parties are the National Liberation Party and the United Social Christian Party.

The Costa Rican National Assembly has just inaugurated a new Internet site (www.asamblea.go.cr) that you can visit to keep up on new laws and legislation as well as contact local legislators and politicians.

Since Costa Rica is such a small country, voters can participate more directly in the democratic process. Each vote carries more weight so politicians are more accessible and have more contact with the people. Costa Ricans approach the presidential elections with such enthusiasm that they celebrate Election Day as if it were a big party or national holiday. For the 2002 presidential election the turnout was around 90 percent— numbers which dwarf the U.S.’ meager 50-percent turnout.

In Costa Rica people settle arguments at the ballot box, not on the battlefield. A group of American Quakers established a colony because of this peaceful democratic tradition and the University of Peace was started and still exists near San José. Costa Rica’s former president, Dr. Oscar Arias Sánchez, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to spread peace and true democracy from Costa Rica to the rest of strife-torn Central America.

Much has been made about corruption in Latin America. According to the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, Costa Rica is ranked third in all of Latin America in a list of least corrupt countries. As a whole Costa Rica is considered the 40th least corrupt country in the whole world. This is a very favorable ranking since there is currently a worldwide corruption crisis.